THE SOCIETY'S MAP OF SOUTH AMERICA
BY GILBERT GROSVENOR
President, National Geographic Society
T H E continent of South America is
less well known, geographically, than
any other large inhabited region of
the earth. Only about a quarter of its total
area has been surveyed, and there are vast
expanses which are practically unexplored.
New explorations and surveys are con
stantly being made; older source material
is being superseded. A full year of exhaus
tive research was devoted to the prepara
tion of The Society's new Map of South
America, distributed to members with this
issue of their NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAG
AZINE. Incorporated upon it are all recent
and valid data obtainable up to the very
week of going to press.*
The map is 26/ x 372 inches in size,
and is printed in ten colors. It is drawn to
a scale of 1:8,500,000, which is to say that
one inch spans 134.2 miles.
The main map on the supplement shows
political boundaries of the ten sovereign
nations of South America and the three
Guiana colonies. It indicates the disputed
areas between Ecuador and Peru, and be
tween Bolivia and Paraguay, demarcating
the claims of each.
BRAZIL, TOO, HAS STATES
Moreover, the boundaries of the States,
Departments, and Territories, as the vari
ous political subdivisions are called, are
shown in all countries where they exist as
important governmental units. Brazil, for
example, is larger than the United States,
and it is as important to know the State
in addressing mail there, and in locating
places, as it is to know the State within
our own United States.
Mail directed to "Washington, U. S. A."
might go to Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kan
sas, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylva
nia, or the District of Columbia, to mention
only a few. A letter addressed to "Santa
Cruz, Brazil," might land in any one of
seven States or the Federal District; a wire
to Boa Vista might go to Rio de Janeiro,
Pernambuco, Espirito Santo, Goyaz, Minas
Geraes, Parana, or Sao Paulo.
* Members wishing additional copies of the new
Map of South America may obtain them by writ
ing the National Geographic Society's Washington,
D. C., headquarters, at 50 cents, paper (unfolded) ;
75 cents, mounted on linen; index, 25 cents.
South America surpasses any other con
tinent in the tremendous extent of its inland
waterways. It also is a continent of magnif
icent distances between its great cities, and
mighty mountain barriers impeding over
land transport. Therefore, river routes and
airplane lines are especially important.
AIRPLANES SHORTEN ROUTES
A few years ago, before the advent of the
airplane, a traveler from Lima, the capital
of Peru, to Iquitos, important interior city,
found it easier to go by ship through the
Panama Canal and up the Amazon, nearly
6,000 miles, rather than follow the direct
route of some 1,200 miles by railroad, mule
train, and boat, which took him over the
mountains and down the Ucayali. Now the
trip can be made by train, automobile, and
air in three or four days.
On the main map prominent black lines
show railways, and anchors mark the limits
of important river navigation. In some
places the navigability of a river is broken
by extensive rapids or falls, such as those
on the Sao Francisco River between Pao de
Assucar and Petrolina, or on the Madeira
River between Porto Velho and Villa Mur
tinho. Here anchors are placed at each
end of the obstruction. Above the upper
one, each river is again used between that
point and the other heads shown.
On the main map, also, the important
steamship lines connecting South American
ports with the rest of the world are traced,
and the distances between terminal ports
are given in nautical miles. The heads of
navigation for ocean-going ships are indi
cated by heavy anchor symbols.
OCEAN LINERS SAIL A THOUSAND MILES
INLAND
One line goes from Liverpool to Manaos,
the Brazilian city lying on the Amazon at
the sixtieth meridian, nearly a thousand
miles from the coast. That city, deep in
the interior of Brazil, is due south of Syd
ney, Nova Scotia. Detroit, Michigan, some
500 miles from the Atlantic coast, is directly
north of westernmost South America. Re
minders, these, that the two continents
might more accurately be named North
western America and Southeastern America.
Members will note many new features on